Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Tress Bucynanyandispeaks at the closure of the symposium

﻿The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries
in Uganda was at hand to close the three day symposium on 7 November 2013. The
lessons learnt over the past fifty years, and recommendations of the symposium
were drafted, agreed upon by the participants and adopted for submission to the
EAC secretariat. According to the representative of the EAC Secretariat, Mr.
Moses Marwa, the recommendations will be
discussed by the Sectoral Council, which will then submit them for policy
decision to the Council of Ministers. Implementation however, will be
the responsibility of each member state.

The recommendations were structured according to the
different themes discussed during the symposium, and here are some of them in brief.

Develop and/or strengthen institutional frameworks both public and private, for building economies of scale and scope

Use the EAC common market to facilitate local manufacturing of fertilizers, machinery and other modern agricultural technologies/inputs

Expand strategic investment in the development of capacity and skills; and promote professionalism of all actors along the value chain

Utilize the EAC common market as an instrument for making the sector more effective in wealth creation

Turning agricultural
knowledge into business

Invest in development of demand-driven, integrated technologies and management practices benchmarked on international best practices, to make agricultural enterprises more competitive

Develop new curricula and/or revise existing ones (at least every five years), including learning from indigenous knowledge and experiences of stakeholders

Reduce the risk in agricultural financing by building human capacity of financial institutions, scaling up SACCO-type financial institutions that operate within a regulatory framework, and investing in other innovative financing mechanisms

Policies and
strategies to turn EAC’s comparative advantage in human capital and natural resources
into competitive advantage in Global Markets

Build strong leadership at all levels so that the EAC and its Partner states can take full charge in the thinking, planning, implementing and funding; as well as monitoring and evaluation and accountability for agricultural policy and programmes focused at growth and competitiveness in agriculture

Increase the quality of analysis to drive policy formulation, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation

Enhance the capacity of communities to fully understand their rights in the context of the development of the agriculture sector so as to demand accountable leadership and more effective governance systems at all levels.

Use the proceeds from oil and gas sector in investment and development of economic sectors such as agriculture, rather than consumptive expenditure

Enhancing business and employment for Youth in Agriculture

More engagement of the social and mass media avenues to drive and create the “coolness” required for creating a “pull” for youth into agriculture (what others have called ‘making agriculture sexy’)

Creation of a “Kilimo East African Youth Forum” to champion regional issues for Youth in Agriculture and also showcase more success stories on a more regular basis

Increase the involvement of youth in the running of affairs targeting them including but not limited to projects and leadership within the agriculture sector.

I believe that these recommendations are one of the many steps towards bringing poor rural farmers out of poverty, especially if they are implemented.

About IFAD

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided grants and low-interest loans to programmes and projects that have reached several hundred million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The designations employed and the presentation of material in this blog do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The designations “developed” and “developing” countries are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.